Saturday, May 03, 2008

Perspective...

We need your prayers for wisdom, peace, patience, strength. Our hearts are so heavy with sorrow for the suffering we see all around us. Let me share just a brief picture.....

Maize is being milled. (It is the staple food in Malawi, eaten daily. It is a white field corn, cooked with water until thick enough to eat with your fingers.) There isn't much, as we are facing one of the worst harvests in recent memory. Food costs have risen 30% in the past year, and maize has gone from $6 per bag to $16. Outside the mill, an elderly grandma with a baby on her back, is sweeping up the maize dust and husks that are left over. It is mixed with dirt, but it is the only food her and the baby will have that day.

We have been assisting a 15 year old orphan that is physically and mentally handicapped. A few weeks ago, she was "hurt," and is now pregnant. The man is in prison.

A new pastor was just elected to begin working with a church that has never had a trained pastor before. He is now receiving death threats from an anonymous source, demanding he leave. Many believe the threats are not from the local witchdoctor, but from the previous leader of the church, who is upset to have lost his position of power.

A dear friend and his wife were recently diagnosed with HIV. They are in their mid twenties and have 1 child left alive. He is so ill with severe pneumonia that he has been in the hospital for the past week, and has lost so much weight, he is not even a shadow of his former self. After he is discharged, he is needing ARV's to keep the AIDS at bay, and possibly live a dozen more years. However, there is a waiting list for the meds he needs, and he will not be able to wait. Word in the village is that he was cursed for working with us!

A woman was killed in a traffic accident. The twins she was pregnant with were saved. Saved, but orphaned before they were even born!

So much hunger, pain, loneliness, fear, poverty. Will you pray with us that our hearts and minds not be overwhelmed or dwell on the suffering we witness each day? Will you pray that through the tears, we faithfully and clearly point to the only Source of Hope and Comfort?

Just think: The Carpenter of Nazareth, the Creator of the universe, has said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14;2

A time of rejoicing and celebration is coming! New clothing and a feast are being prepared (Rev 19: 6-8)! God Himself "will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more crying or pain..To him who is thirsty I (God) will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be My son (Rev 21:4, 6-7)."

New clothes, feasting, a home and a family! Jesus! Just thinking about what He is preparing for us has lifted my heart! Oh, come quickly, Lord!